London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 23, 2025

Nadhim Zahawi committed a serious breach of ministerial code, says Sunak

Nadhim Zahawi committed a serious breach of ministerial code, says Sunak

Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked as Tory Party chairman, after an inquiry by the prime minister's ethics adviser found he had failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs.

The PM said Sir Laurie Magnus's inquiry made clear there had been a "serious breach of the ministerial code".

Rishi Sunak asked for the probe after Mr Zahawi admitted paying a settlement to HMRC, including a penalty.

Sir Laurie said the MP had missed many chances to be open about his tax.

In his report for Mr Sunak, he wrote: "Mr Zahawi's conduct as a minister has fallen below the high standards that, as prime minister, you rightly expect from those who serve in your government."

Sir Laurie cited Mr Zahawi's failures to update his register of interests until more than a year after HMRC started looking into his taxes.

When Mr Zahawi reached a settlement with the taxman in August 2022, this too should have been declared, Sir Laurie wrote.

The BBC understands that Mr Zahawi - who was then responsible for the UK's tax system as chancellor - paid around £5m in total, including a penalty.

Mr Zahawi has previously insisted that he acted properly, and that his tax error was "careless and not deliberate".

But Mr Zahawi's "omissions" of information constituted a "serious failure to meet the standards set out in the ministerial code", Sir Laurie wrote in his report.

Sir Laurie was also critical of the MP for describing news stories about his tax affairs as "smears" in July 2022 and failing to correct the record until earlier this month.

"I consider that this delay in correcting an untrue public statement is inconsistent with the requirement for openness," he said.

After receiving the findings, Mr Sunak wrote to Mr Zahawi to say he had decided to remove him from government.

Mr Zahawi thanked the prime minister and said he took pride in his role in the vaccine rollout and the Queen's funeral - but did not offer an apology or mention his tax affairs.

He promised to support the prime minister "from the backbenches in the coming years".

In his letter to Mr Zahawi, Mr Sunak said the MP for Stratford-on-Avon could be "extremely proud" of his achievements in government, including overseeing the Covid vaccine rollout.

But Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Zahawi should have been sacked "long ago" and accused the prime minister of being "hopelessly weak".

Ms Rayner and Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds have now written to the prime minister asking him to "come clean" about when he was made aware of the HMRC investigation into Mr Zahawi.

Downing Street has previously insisted that Mr Sunak "was not informed of these details, informally or otherwise".

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman echoed Labour's concerns, saying the prime minister still had "questions to answer over the whole affair".

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper called on Mr Zahawi to go a step further and resign as an MP.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that it was important the facts were "investigated fully and properly" and the situation had required "cool forensic analysis".

Asked whether Mr Zahawi should ever have been appointed, Mr Gove said his "understanding" was that there was "no information that was brought to the attention of the prime minister, either Rishi or indeed Liz Truss which would have led them to believe at the time it was inappropriate to have Nadhim on the team".

During his interview, Mr Gove also said he expected Mr Zahawi to "reflect" on how he had told journalists looking into his tax affairs that they were attempting to smear him.

Dan Neidle, the tax lawyer who began investigating Mr Zahawi's taxes last year, told BBC News the MP had "set lawyers on me... he tried to shut me up".

"Regardless of what happened with the tax, his behaviour... I feel, was a breach of the ministerial code," said Mr Neidle, who is a Labour supporter but insists his investigations are non-partisan.

In his letter to Mr Sunak, Mr Zahawi expressed concern about the conduct of journalists in recent weeks, specifically mentioning one headline which said the "noose was tightening".


Timeline


April 2021: HMRC starts having interactions with Mr Zahawi, including a meeting with him and his advisers. Mr Zahawi - who was vaccines minister at the time - told Sir Laurie he believed he was "merely being asked certain queries" rather than being investigated. Sir Laurie says Mr Zahawi should have understood this was "a serious matter" and included it in his declaration of interests

15 September 2021: Mr Zahawi is made education secretary by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sir Laurie says Mr Zahawi again failed to declare his interest

5 July 2022: He is promoted to chancellor. He completes a declaration of interest for his new role but makes no reference to an investigation by HMRC

10 July 2022: Mr Zahawi describes reports he is being investigated by HMRC as "smears"

15 July 2022: He receives a letter from HMRC and subsequently updates his declaration of interests to acknowledge an investigation was under way.

August 2022: Mr Zahawi reaches an agreement with HMRC for failing to take "reasonable care". The BBC has been told the total amount paid to the taxman was in the region of about £5m

September 2022: A final settlement is agreed with HMRC but Mr Zahawi does not update his declaration of interest form with the new information

September and October 2022: Mr Zahawi becomes a levelling up minister under Liz Truss's short-lived premiership and Tory Party chair under Rishi Sunak. Again, Mr Zahawi does not update his declaration of interest form

21 January 2023: Mr Zahawi issues a statement acknowledging he reached a settlement with HMRC following an investigation

23 January 2023: The prime minister asks his ethics adviser Sir Laurie to look into the disclosures made about the tax affairs of Mr Zahawi


Watch: Michael Gove is asked why Nadhim Zahawi was given the post in the first place

Watch: Labour's Bridget Phillipson - There are still "serious questions" for Rishi Sunak to answer


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×